Conventional lubricants useful in synthetic, semi-synthetic, and soluble oil-containing formulations, such as those useful in the field of metal working, are very insoluble in water. For example, such conventional lubricants are only soluble in formulations containing up to about 20 wt % water. Once the amount of water in the formulation increases beyond this point, the load properties at a given torque for formulations containing conventional lubricants is very much compromised. “Load carrying” is a characteristic used in the related technical field and, for example, can be measured according to an industrial-acceptable standard such as ASTM 3233. The “load carrying” properties of the formulation are dependent, in part, on the level of solubility the conventional lubricants have in water. Conventional lubricants, therefore, must compromise their water solubility to maintain good load carrying properties when utilized in any of the above-mentioned oil-containing formulations.
It is therefore desirable to provide a formulation that contains a lubricant having enhanced water solubility, while maintaining excellent load carrying properties when used in oil-containing formulations.